


small world, huh?

by courtingdemons



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Established Relationship, M/M, Open Relationships, Polyamory, no daegals were harmed in the making of this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:54:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29546142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/courtingdemons/pseuds/courtingdemons
Summary: Jeno has a secret or two regarding the routine meetings between him and his nemesis with the cute dog.On a completely unrelated note, Jeno's boyfriend's boyfriend needs somebody to dogsit.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Mark Lee/Zhong Chen Le, Lee Jeno/Zhong Chen Le, Mark Lee/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 20
Kudos: 98
Collections: Challenge #5 — I heard a secret..





	small world, huh?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thanks so much to [eli](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeolissoft) for betaing.
> 
> I think this is the very first Mark/Jeno/Chenle fic on AO3, so I hope you enjoy~

The Nemesis sticks his tongue out at Jeno as they pass by each other at 8 am on a Friday.

Jeno snorts, taking his earbuds out as he stops jogging. “Tsk, you’re so childish,” Jeno says, accustomed to their routine, battle, quarrel, Mark would probably call it a “mating dance” but he’s not here right now so Jeno settles on teasing.

“Because you’re the pinnacle of maturity?” The Nemesis stops as well and crosses his arms. They both know the steps to their little dance. His dog attempts to continue walking but is stopped as the leash has no give. Jeno’s heart melts as the dog lets out a confused whimper before paddling over to the Nemesis again with a wagging tail.

“I mean I have yet to stick my tongue out at any stranger,” Jeno shrugs. He enjoys how easy it is to work up the boy even if he’d never admit it.

“Insulting a random passerby’s dog is definitely more immature! I have to defend my poor dog’s honour and let you know my baby hates you even if you can’t understand dog language!” The Nemesis’ remark full of conviction would make Jeno bristle, would make him want to defend himself, but it is dampened by his dog cutely pawing at Jeno's ankles.

"Good boy," Jeno coos as he leans down to pet the dog.

"Good girl, actually," The Nemesis sniffs. He glares at Jeno with narrowed eyes but doesn't move his dog away.

"Good girl," Jeno repeats, scratching behind the dog's ear.

"I knew my girl could charm anybody, even judgemental assholes like you," The Nemesis’s eyes flash and a smirk graces his lips. "Like father, like daughter. Come on, baby, time to go."

Jeno rolls his eyes but doesn't stop the dog from bounding away at a tug from his leash. "Would say blood really was fooled this time, actually," he whispers under his breath. 

The Nemesis sends him one last glare at that before continuing on his walk.

Jeno stands back up, smiling a little from the encounter, and continues his morning jog in the opposite direction.

That little morning rendezvous is as constant in Jeno’s life as his jelly indulgence, which is to say every day like clockwork. It started a few weeks ago when Jeno insulted the tiny dog and the owner had overheard, thus devolving into this strange yet fun, drawn-out squabble. 

The whole situation is quite funny when Jeno thinks about it starting from the fact that he hadn’t even insulted the dog. He had been on the phone with Jaemin, who had called because he’d finally gotten Biskit in his village after a long wait. Jeno never understood why Jaemin loves Biskit so much and had expressed how he didn’t find the dog to be cute at all, he’d seen much better ones. 

He hadn’t noticed the boy until he stopped right in front of Jeno and had poked a finger in his chest as he spoke to him. Jeno had been shocked at the gesture, quickly taking out his headphones. He’d had no idea what was happening and was going to try to deescalate the situation until the boy insinuated that any pets Jeno had were no doubt ugly. He couldn’t handle such insults toward Bongshik, Seol, and Nal, so he replied to the boy’s petty comments with pettier ones even if he had no idea what brought it on.

It took him until he got back home with a clearer head to realize that the boy had thought Jeno was calling his dog ugly. It was too late by then, Jeno had already answered biting remarks to the stranger's antagonizing comments and had started referring to him as the Nemesis in his head and so for now, it continues to be a secret.

There’s another secret that has been growing over the past three months as he’s grown accustomed to seeing and teasing the boy nearly every day. Jeno doesn’t want to admit it even to himself, so it remains locked away as well.

Jeno yawns as he enters the passcode to his door, haphazardly taking off his shoes as he stumbles to the couch. He'll put them back neatly later. He yawns again, the week of staying up late to work on his thesis catching up to him. He'd extracted himself from the library fairly early tonight, it's only a quarter past 9.

Jeno knows he shouldn’t have made a beeline for the couch as soon as he lies down. It feels like he's melting, exhausted bones sinking deep into the material. He should have gone to the kitchen and grabbed some food instead, he thinks as his stomach growls, his last meal having been lunch many hours ago. Maybe he'll text Mark to pick something up for him so that he can just inhale it before heading to bed.

He already has his phone out before he remembers that it's Friday and Mark's spending time with the boy he's been seeing for the past two months. Jeno feels a little awkward at the thought of texting Mark as his boyfriend while he's on another date.

The door opens as soon as he puts the phone back in his pocket, revealing Mark Lee himself. He's dressed in a nice shirt and is smiling to himself as he enters. It makes Jeno automatically smile as well.

"Hey, how was it?" Jeno asks and Mark startles, eyes flitting to his general direction before spotting him on the couch.

"Great, we had fun," Mark says. "I just dropped Chenle off at work."

Jeno sits up as they greet each other with a peck on the lips.

"The radio show, right?"

Mark hums and lightly pats his stomach. "We ate so much tonight. Apparently the radio show's topic today is food and he said he's preparing." Mark laughs lightly and Jeno feels warm at the sound.

His stomach growls again at the mention of food and Mark looks at him, sighs, and doesn't even have to ask to know Jeno forgot to eat again.

"Let me go change and then I'll make you something," he says. He tugs his sleeve higher to glance at his watch and Jeno has to admit he's quite partial to that gesture. "Would it be a bother if I let his radio segment play for the next half hour? I promised I'd catch it tonight."

Jeno shakes his head to indicate it's no problem. He's been hearing about this mysterious boy more often this past month as he and Mark start getting more serious and hearing his voice for a bit can't hurt. 

Jeno leans his head back against the couch. The voice is somewhat familiar but Jeno's too tired to spend any energy thinking why.

Jeno zones out while listening to the radio as well as Mark tinkering away in the kitchen. 

It's not long before Mark comes back with a steaming bowl of dak gomtang, a chicken soup, and Jeno devours it even quicker.

Jeno tips the bowl to his mouth and drinks the rest of the soup as Mark idly cards his hands through Jeno's hair. The radio has moved onto a new segment, so Mark turns it off with his other hand.

Jeno clicks his tongue in satisfaction after he’s done eating. It only takes 2 seconds of puppy eyes to convince Mark to clear the utensils while Jeno convinces himself to get up and walk to their bed.

"I'm literally in love with you," Jeno says in lieu of thanks once Mark comes back. He stretches his arms above his head. "God, that tasted so good." 

Jeno burps loudly before Mark can answer, likely due to how fast he downed the food. He giggles shamelessly.

"Yeah, well, it's a good thing that I love you too, huh?" Mark says.

Jeno nods sagely as he takes Mark's hand and drags him to bed, eager to get a good night's sleep after many days. Good thing, indeed.

Saturday is a day to break routines. There are no alarms, no morning jogs, and no early morning classes allotted in the calendar for Saturday mornings. So, Jeno only blinks awake as the sunlight hits his eyes.

He yawns, still somehow sleepy after definitely more than 8 hours of sleep if the alarm clock on the bedside table is anything to go by. 

He rolls over and spots Mark sitting up, hunched over and typing on his phone. 

“G’morning,” Jeno mumbles. 

“Hi,” Mark says with a smile. “Finally awake?”

Jeno answers with another yawn and Mark laughs. He rubs his hand up and down Jeno’s thigh where his sleep shorts rode up. Jeno closes his eyes again and enjoys the warmth of Mark’s palm as the minutes pass. 

“So uh,” Mark lets out a cough, “how do you feel about dogs?” Mark asks.

Jeno’s eyes widen at that and he scrambles to sit up, fully awake due to the sudden excitement. “Mark, are we getting a _dog_?!”

“Not quite,” Mark says, scratching the back of his neck. “More like Chenle needs to go away for the weekend and his dog sitter had an emergency and he has nobody to look after his dog so he was wondering if I could dogsit?” Mark’s voice pitches higher toward the end as he phrases it like a question.

Jeno thinks for a moment; he thinks about how he feels about his boyfriend bringing his other boyfriend’s dog home for the weekend and searches for any traces of jealousy or bitterness that might need to be addressed but doesn’t find any for now. “Well, not as exciting as getting our own dog but I’m definitely not passing up a weekend with a dog.”

“That’s good, I was really hoping you’d be okay with it! She’s the cutest little munchkin, you’ll love her for sure. I’ll let him know you said yes. He’s leaving soon,” Mark glances back at his phone, “so I’ve gotta go pick the dog up in the next hour or so.”

“First, time for breakfast,” Jeno says as he climbs out of the bed, “and then, bring me the dog!”

  
  


The dog is cute. 

Her name is Daegal, she’s a tiny, fluffy, hyper thing. She’s beyond adorable.

And a little too familiar.

Jeno has his phone in one hand as he looks up mini Bichon Frise photos online, checking whether he can’t differentiate them or his suspicion is true.

His other hand is petting Daegal as she makes herself comfortable on Jeno’s lap, which in itself is another suspicious activity.

Daegal’s friendly and curious even with strangers, Mark said, but Jeno has a sneaking suspicion they aren’t strangers as Daegal whines until he scratches her ear just like he does most mornings.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Jeno whispers to Daegal. “If you really are the dog I accidentally insulted, I never meant to do it. You’re so cute and lovely.”

Jeno coos at Daegal as she rubs her head against his chest. “Also, your owner, though maybe not as lovely, is quite cute, too. And my boyfriend thinks so, too.”

That’s when it really truly hits Jeno. “Oh my god, my boyfriend and my archenemy may be dating.” 

Jeno and Daegal maintain some intense eye contact as the revelation sinks in before he heaves a sigh and leans his head against the couch, wondering if the world is really this small. 

  
  


Jeno goes on his Sunday morning walk at the same time and the same place he's been going to for the past 6 months, the same place he'd encountered his mysterious Nemesis for the past 3 weeks. This time, he takes Daegal with him. He does not see the Nemesis nor their dog that has a startling resemblance to Daegal.

It throws him off as the chance of Chenle and his Nemesis being the same person rises and this is the first time Jeno’s gone without seeing the stranger two days in a row in a while. Despite his best attempts, Jeno misses his cheeky grin and biting remarks just a little. 

“Well, then,” Jeno says to Daegal, who stares back, “seems like we may have a problem.”

“Chenle’s gonna come and pick Daegal up at around 7,” Mark says. “Do you wanna stick around and just casually meet him?”

It’s a nonchalant comment, a fair question, from Mark as he dusts the bookshelf but Jeno freezes from where he’s folding laundry. 

His first instinct is to say no with excuses on the tip of his tongue: it’s too soon to meet, he’s suddenly feeling a little sick, he just remembered he actually told Jaemin he’d hang out with him today. But Mark had met the last person Jeno was dating a month into the relationship, Jeno cannot fake being sick for the life of him and everybody knew Sunday nights were Jaemin and Jisung’s date nights. 

He racks his brain for another excuse and thinks maybe he could just come up with excuses until they break up and Jeno never has to meet this Chenle.

Guilt washes over him at the thought and he blurts out a “Yep, sounds good” because he can’t believe he was almost hoping Mark would go through a breakup. 

He goes to sit on the couch and nearly gives dog sitting a very literal meaning as he narrowly avoids Daegal as she jumps on the couch at the same time. The little rascal tends to follow Jeno or Mark around and sometimes that means nipping at their heels and other times it means deciding she will quickly occupy the seat the humans are about to sit on.

Jeno lifts Daegal with one arm and moves her to his lap. 

The meeting can be good, he tries to convince himself. He’s curious and the meeting will solve whether Daegal really is the dog he sees nearly every day and whether Mark really is unknowingly dating the Nemesis. 

Mark plays very well with Daegal.

Whereas Jeno has a tendency to just smother Daegal with affection, Mark is always finding new games to play with her. 

Jeno is endeared by the sight of Mark maneuvering a little banana bean bag around his legs and knees while Daegal jumps around them to follow it. It’s an overwhelmingly cute sight and Jeno thinks about whether they really should get a dog for themselves after Daegal’s gone. 

Jeno stretches his neck. His shoulders ache from being in the same position for a few hours as Jeno tries to get in some schoolwork on Sunday evening before the next week begins.

It also proves to be an excellent distraction from the fact that Mark’s boyfriend, Chenle, possibly maybe probably Jeno’s Nemesis, will be coming over to pick Daegal up. 

Jeno’s doing fine. 

“Chenle just texted saying he’s almost here,” Mark says as he pauses the game to check his phone. 

Jeno nods. “Good timing, I just finished this paper.” 

It doesn’t take long for Chenle to arrive at the door and for Mark to open it but it feels like an eternity to Jeno. He wipes his palms on his pants. 

He stands up from the couch just as Chenle comes in, using his right foot to take off his left shoe. 

They make eye contact and Jeno knew almost certainly that it would be him but seeing his Nemesis in his home rather than at a park way too early in the morning is startling. 

It feels like someone poured ice-cold water on Jeno and he can do nothing to stop his mouth from blurting out, “I was on the phone that day and was talking about a dog in a game and not Daegal at all” at the exact same time Chenle registers Jeno’s face and exclaims “What the hell? Mark’s supposedly lovely, kind boyfriend is the asshole who insulted Daegal?”

Mark looks back and forth between the two of them and laughs. “What?”

Chenle sniffs. “I know he’s your boyfriend and you love him but he’s also the jerk I said I often meet when I take Daegal on a walk.”

“I _just_ said that wasn’t about Daegal. Plus, I treated Daegal very well during our meetings,” Jeno says defensively.

Mark laughs harder.

Daegal had been watching the exchange while wagging her tail but as Chenle softly calls to her, she runs over. 

Chenle picks her up. “How have you been, my sweet daughter? Dad’s so sorry for leaving you with that asshole,” he coos, his tone a stark contrast to his words and the glare he sends Jeno’s way.

“I took very good care of her! At this point, she probably likes me more than you!” Jeno counters, saying obvious lies just to get the last word.

Mark sobers up at their continuous jabs, always the one making sure everybody’s comfortable and getting along. “Wait, guys, is this for real? Is this going to be a problem?”

Jeno feels both smug and embarrassed at how quickly both he and Chenle say “no” at the same time. 

Mark goes back to smiling. “Well, come on inside and tell me more about this rivalry then!” 

As Chenle passes by Jeno to sit on the couch next to him, Jeno sticks his tongue out at him teasingly. Chenle rolls his eyes and shakes his head but Jeno spots the way his mouth curls up in a smile.

It’s a pretty smile and Jeno knows his second secret isn’t quite ready to be announced yet but it seems like he’ll get the chance to whisper it out into the world soon.

**Author's Note:**

> If a relationship in a fic starts and ends with one of them sticking their tongue out at the other, it’s true love y’all. 
> 
> There's a korean idiom "피는 못 속인다" meaning "blood can't be fooled" and that's why Jeno says that blood was fooled about Daegal being charming haha I thought it was fun and interesting when I found it, so thought I'd share!
> 
> Thank you for reading, drop a kudos and comment if you liked it~
> 
> Now that fics have been revealed, come talk to me on twitter: [courtingdemons!](https://twitter.com/courtingdemons) [Here's the fic moodboard](https://twitter.com/courtingdemons/status/1369292729553985542) with the silly jenle that inspired the fic.


End file.
